The Urban Cowboy: The Evolution of Westernwear in High-End Fashion, 1965-1995
Melinda Abercrombie
Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
About this Item
- Title
- The Urban Cowboy: The Evolution of Westernwear in High-End Fashion, 1965-1995
- Contributor Names
-
Abercrombie, Melinda (Author)
-
Matheson, Rebecca (Thesis advisor)
-
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice (Degree granting institution)
- Date
- 2023
- Degree Information
- M.A. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2023
- Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice
- Advisors: Matheson, Rebecca
- Abstract
-
Westernwear refers to a style of dress inspired by the workwear of cowboys from the United States which is made up of various influences from Spain to Indigenous peoples of the United States, developing into one broad visual identity. The cowboy who wears this dress is a central character in the mythology of the American West. The myth of the West is strongly tied to American individualism, solidified with western expansion during the nineteenth century, and grew with the rise of the United States as a world power in the twentieth century. As an export, the American cowboy and iconography in an international context is seen as a representation of the country rather than just a region. Once abroad, the mythology tied to the image of the cowboy may be reinterpreted according to its non-American viewer.
This non-American reinterpretation is the focus of this paper’s research to discuss westernwear coming to high-end fashion catwalks by way of foreign film production, musical stage costuming, continued reimagining of the cowboy’s iconography through film and television and finally joining fashion’s vocabulary via foreign fashion designers. The timeline will use these key cultural moments of international exposure and uses of westernwear to be then translated into high-end fashion in both Europe and the United States from 1965 to 1995. Westernwear’s reimagining and appropriation into the global fashion’s world in the late 20th century follows the downfall of the glorification and romanticization of the iconography of the cowboy. The cowboy represents America on the international stage so in turn the use of westernwear references in fashion is a commentary on where the United States stands politically or economically internationally.
- Subject
- Fashion
- History
- United States--Study and teaching
- America
- West (U.S.)
- Cowboys
- Mythology
- Western
- Work clothes
- Rights
- In Copyright
- The copyright for this work is held by its author/creator(s). Usage of this material beyond what is permitted by copyright law must first be cleared with the rights-holder(s). This work has been made available online by the Fashion Institute of Technology Gladys Marcus Library strictly for research and educational purposes. If you are the copyright holder for this work and have any objections to this work being made available online, please notify us immediately at [email protected].
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
- Identifier
- FIT Repository ID: etd_000944
- ISBN: 9798379899073
- pqdiss: 30522585
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Citation
Abercrombie, M. (2023). The Urban Cowboy: The Evolution of Westernwear in High-End Fashion, 1965-1995 [Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120827
Abercrombie, Melinda. The Urban Cowboy: The Evolution of Westernwear in High-End Fashion, 1965-1995. 2023. Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Master's thesis. FIT Digital Repository, https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120827
Abercrombie, Melinda. "The Urban Cowboy: The Evolution of Westernwear in High-End Fashion, 1965-1995." Master's thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, 2023. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/120827